Lyft Is Coming To Salt Lake City

I’ve previously written about the various ride-sharing services, including Lyft, Sidecar, Uber, and car2go. Until now, I have not been aware of any of these services being available in Salt Lake City. That’s about to change with the launch of Lyft in Salt Lake City – apparently happening sometime this month. Even a Salt Lake Craigslist ad was posted last week looking for Lyft drivers.

Of these various peer-to-peer transportation solutions, Lyft seems to be the most upfront and transparent about the insurance and liability ramifications of being a Lyft driver or passenger.

In fact, if you’re considering being a Lyft driver in Salt Lake City you can take some comfort in the fact that Lyft says they will provide you with the following coverages (from Lyft’s website):

1. Uninsured Motorist (Added to $1M Excess Liability policy – covering drivers if they are hit by an uninsured motorist that is at fault)

2. Underinsured motorist (Added to $1M Excess Liability policy – covering drivers if they are hit by an underinsured motorist that is at fault)

3. Collision (Contingent automobile physical damage policy – $2,500 deductible and $50,000 maximum applicable to drivers who have purchased collision coverage on their personal policy)

4. Match mode coverage (Contingent commercial liability policy – $50,000 for individual injury, $100,000 for total injury and $25,000 for property damage)

Please note that it appears the above coverages are for drivers – not passengers. Second, this is excesscoverage. The driver’s personal policy is still applicable, and first in line to pay. If you’re a Lyft driver, don’t assume your personal insurance company is OK with you operating a taxi service (at least that’s how I think your insurance company will characterize it). It’s really great that Lyft sees fit to provide its drivers with this coverage.

Anyway, I’m excited for Lyft to come to Salt Lake and to have our town embrace this new transportation solution. I’d also love to hear your feedback about Lyft. If you have questions about insurance coverage in the event of an accident with a Lyft vehicle, feel free to give me a call.